Description: Rollerball (1975) posits a dystopian
future (2018!) in which war has been replaced by the titular
game, a gladiatorial spectacle of violence that helps keep
the global populace entertained and anesthetized. Director
Norman Jewison and writer William Harrison further give us
an athletic champion, Jonathan E (the great James Caan),
whose individual expertise defeats the worldwide corporate
leadership’s design: to emphasize the futility of individual
effort. Corporate bigwigs (icily incarnated by John
Houseman) need Jonathan to retire, but Jonathan begins to
have his own dangerous ideas.

The Film:

In the year 2018 violence has been outlawed and corporations have
replaced government as the ruling party following the demise of
politics. With the absence of war or conflict, a forcibly passive
population's bloodlust is satisfied by a brutal new sport known as
Rollerball. A high-octane melding of the outlawed sports of the past,
the worldwide phenomenon of Rollerball has resulted in a
corporate-backed sensation. The most popular athlete in the world,
Jonathan E. (James Caan) has steadily risen through the ranks to become
a legendary veteran of the sport. When the corporate backers of
Rollerball begin to fear that Jonathan's popularity has instilled him
with a potentially dangerous amount of power, a thunderous struggle
between man's free will and the oppression of the masses threatens to
shatter the fragile strings that the puppet masters use to manipulate
mankind. His determination to remain with the sport flying in the face
of the very reason Rollerball was conceived, the corporate rulers hatch
a plot to abandon the rules in hopes that Jonathan will be killed and
their grip of power will remain an unyielding chokehold on an
increasingly bloodthirsty populace.

Behind the vision of a future society, where the corporate world state
controls the bloodlust of the populace through lethal games of
rollerball, lies the familiar theme of individual struggle: Caan's champ
takes on the grey eminence who wants to force his retirement. The script
grapples with notions of freedom and privilege, but finally remains too
oblique to throw much light either on our own society or on our possible
future. Occasionally, though, insight triumphs, and Caan's struggle
towards articulation remains one of the film's strong points. Otherwise,
its main interest lies in the tensions generated by the gap between the
script's intellectual aspirations and the gut reaction appeal of the
games, which are highly physical and brutal. Hence, a group of drunken
revellers deliberately and callously burning down some old fir trees
makes more impression than all the destruction of human meat in the
games. Ultimately, Rollerball gets by on its sheer monolithic
quality - an abundance of quantity. Despite indifferent direction and
dire humour, it is well mounted and photographed.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Rollerball - a longtime
cult favorite - gets a Twilight Time
Blu-ray
release. Once again the distributor produces a very strong
a/v. This is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate. The
vast improvement over past DVDs shows up in many areas -
from the richness of the colors to the more layered contrast
but, perhaps most notably - the high level of detail in
close-ups. Much of the 'games' are with a very kinetic
camera exemplifying the intense action. The futuristic world
is clean and sanitized - and the high resolution image
exemplifies that.
The visuals are thick and fairly film-like with some
pleasing textures. The
Blu-ray
provides a fabulous, authentic, video presentation. I image,
this is a good as it will ever get for the film.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

Twilight Time
offer a DTS-HD Master 5.1 bump at 3465 kbps and an original mono in a
DTS-HD Master at 1064 kbps. It is always appreciated to add the
original. The bump sounds okay - some crisper separations buoy the
sports-combative atmosphere. This is notable in the aggressive action
and crowd noises but more so in the extensive use of classic pieces in
the film, such as Adagio for Strings and Organ in G minor,
memorable Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor as well as some
Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. It sounds wonderfully rich and deep
(especially the organ). There are optional English subtitles
(sample above)
and m

Twilight Time add two, previously
released, audio commentaries - the first with director Norman Jewison
expanding on the futurism of the film as well as keen production details
from his valued viewpoint and the second has screenplay writer and
author William Harrison whose short story
Roller Ball Murder - was the basis for the film. I believe this
was originally on a Region 2 DVD. Twilight Time add their usual ability
to access an isolated score - as well as vintage featurettes From Rome
to Rollerball: The Full Circle and the lengthier, 2000, Return
to the Arena: The Making of Rollerball directed by Jeffrey Schwarz.
There are brief TV Spots, a theatrical trailer and the package contains
liner notes by Julie Kirgo.

BOTTOM LINE:

Surely, the definitive digital
release for Jewison's Rollerball. This film can appeal to a varied viewership that both
science-fiction aficionados and machismo sports enthusiasts
can appreciate. The director's versatility and excellent
storytelling ability help build the Dystopian world through
excellent art direction with an obtuse pristine atmosphere.
It's very cool. The
Blu-ray's 1080P offers a marvelous presentation and, once again, they have
stacked the extras. This is limited to both 3.000 units and
only 3 per customer. It will soon be out-of-print.
Enthusiastically recommended!

Gary Tooze

May 26th, 2014

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.